The dampness of the morning sprinklers took some getting used to but it was one of the most pleasant feelings to Seung-Wan. At first the clouds of mist had scared her- they looked too much like the clouds that oozed up from the vents in the lower levels on hot days. Weeks spent helping her sister Ji-Yeong in the 34th Agricultural Ward though had made her more accustomed to the sight of rolling shapes in her peripherals and the foreign sensation of water droplets on her skin.
She especially liked not having to wear her gas mask. With every available surface in the tower covered in gardens, it was impractical to try and climate control all of them. The gardens in the commercial and residential areas were left to grow as they were, though their produce was still handled and harvested by the Bureau of Agriculture. The gardens in Agricultural Wards however- entire sections dedicated solely to farming- were carefully cared for with filtered water, air, and state of the art fertilizer. The 34th Ward was one of the only places in the lower 50 where she could safely take her mask off for longer than an hour.
“Seung-Wan! Are you done with those tomatoes yet?” her sister called from the sorting area.
“Almost! Just a few more,” she called back. It took some stretching and very careful footwork around the radishes but she managed to grab the last ripe tomatoes and climb out of the garden plot without crushing anything. She rolled each plump fruit in her hands, checking for any signs of fungus or bruising, before putting it in her basket. She liked the taste of tomatoes enough, they were a little watery and slimy for her tastes, but she adored the colors of Ward tomatoes. There was a “wild” tomato vine wrapped around the gnarled, worn sign to Old Nan’s restaurant down by her apartment on Level 20 but it’s fruit were knobby and burnt orange. Not like the the bright red or the striped kinds she found in the Wards. She never knew nature could make something so vibrant or detailed!
With all of the tomatoes accounted for Seung-Wan grabbed her brasket and jogged over to where her sister and the others were sorting out the produce for the markets.
“There you are. Took you long enough. You weren’t sketching the heirlooms again were you?” her sister teased her. Seung-Wan blushed.
“That was one time!”
“That I saw,” her sister said, nudging her shoulder. “Don’t think I don’t see you staring longingly at the fruits while you pick them.”
“And not like Myeong either! At least we don’t have to worry about you eating anything!” another girl teased from across the table.
“Hey!” Myeong yelled while everyone else laughed.
“Alright ladies let’s bring this down to the market!” their supervisor said. Seung-Wan grabbed a crate of fruit and joined the line of women marching to the market on Level 38.
The market was in full swing when they arrived, stalls set up with brightly patterned fabrics, glittering pieces of tech, and piping hot food.
“Banh mi! Nice and hot!”
“New fabrics! Hand dyed! Come see our new colors!”
“What do ya need? I got multi-conductor wires here. Sim cards? LEDS? You look like someone who could use some new LEDS. Just got some new colors!”
The girls melted through the crowd to their stall and started setting up their crates. As soon as they arrived Ji-Yeong started shouting out the passersby.
“FRESH PRODUCE! Come get your fresh produce here!”
A flood a people ran up, everyone shouting over each other to get the best picks before the others. Ji-Yeong and Myeong swiped everyone’s credit bands one by one while Seung-Wan and the others dashed around and under each other filling up bags of fruits, vegetables and herbs as quickly as possible.
An hour of frenzied shopping later, Seung-Wan was rearranging the remaining produce to make it a little more presentable after the flood of customers while the others sat down or wandered the other stalls. She was organizing some radishes when strings of curses and the unmistakable screech of a pocket-rocket horn to her left caught her attention. Seung-Wan turned to see pedestrians jumping out of the way as the multicolored scooter sped by and she yelped and barely jumped back in time when it screeched to a stop inches from the produce stall.
Hand clutched to her racing heart, Seung-Wan look dazed at the… peculiar person dismounting the pocket-rocket. They were covered head to toe in mismatched fabrics from leather to cotton, silk and what was possibly fur. Their gas mask covered their entire face and was adorned with neon paint and blinking LEDS. There wasn’t a scrap of skin that she could see.
“Ah, Miss-ter? Dark Mun? Ah hello.” Seung-Wan greeted, because who else could the extravagant courier be? Dark Mun was well known throughout the lower levels for being a reliable courier and mostly reliable scavenger. (Mostly, because they had odd taste in what they thought was worthwhile scrap).
Dark Mun nodded in greeting and rubbed their hands together, quickly moving about the stall and browsing the produce.
“Um, is there anything I can help you with?” Sueng-Wan asked.
Dark Mun titled their head at her before making a small circle with their hands.
‘Oh dear. That could be anything,’ she thought, trying to figure out what it was Dark Mun wanted. She decided to just grab every round thing she could find and hold it up. She was halfway through the stall, and both were starting to get frustrated when Ji-Yeong returned from her shopping trip.
“Ah! Dark Mun good to see you again.” She greeted.
“Help me.” Seung-Wan greeted back, waving a cantaloupe angrily at her.
Ji-Yeong just laughed and brushed by her to the crate of clementines.
“How many will that be today?”
Dark Mun raised all ten fingers excitedly.
“Ten it is.”
“How,” Seung-Wan asked incredulously.
“It’s about the only thing they buy.”
Dark Mun looked between the two, took the pointer and middle finger of each hand together and tapped them twice while looking at Ji-Yeong.
“Oh no this is my baby sister Seung-Wan.” She answered the apparent question.
“Two years!” Seung-Wan yelled, nudging her sister’s shoulder.
Dark Mun titled their head and seemed to stare and her for a while before pointing at Ji-Yeong and tapping their forearm. Seung-Wan looked on confused as they repeated the motion before Ji-Yeong came to the rescue.
“Yeah she’s that one that hangs around the tattoo shop all the time.”
Seung-Wan looked at her and finally realized that Dark Mun had been referring to the array of herons and peonies on her sister’s arm. Dark Mun nodded in understanding and then made a scribbling motion on their hand.
“Yeah she says she goes there to draw but she really just likes watching Nari work.”
“I do not!” Seung-Wan spluttered, slamming her hands on the table.
“Do too.”
“I appreciate the art!”
“You appreciate that ass,” her sister deadpanned.
Seung-Wan choked in rage and tried to strangle her sister but she just laughed and ran around the table to hand Dark Mun their fruit.
“Here ya go.”
Dark Mun took the fruit eagerly and then reached into one of their many bags. They gently handed over 3 flower buds.
“Are these the striped tulips from Level 72!?” Ji-Yeong exclaimed.
Dark Mun nodded eagerly and ignored Ji-Yeong’s high-pitched squealing to rummage once more. This time they pulled out half a dozen squares of faded but intricately patterned silk and handed them to Seung-Wan.
“I can’t accept this!” She said as she stared in wonder at the fabrics. Oh the patterns she could make with those!
Dark Mun shook their head and nudged the fabrics towards her.
“I really can’t, those bulbs are payment enough.”
They tapped their feet annoyed now and even though there was a mask, Seung-Wan could feel the very unimpressed glare leveled at her. She bit her lip before giving in and reaching for the fabrics. She rubbed them delicately before tucking them safely away in her dress pocket.
“Thank you!” she said and bowed.
Dark Mun put their hands on their hips and nodded, pleased. They picked up their bags, waved goodbye to the sisters and then revved up their pocket-rocket. The girls watched as the brightly colored mass sped down the street leaving a cloud of dark smoke and angry curses in its wake.
She especially liked not having to wear her gas mask. With every available surface in the tower covered in gardens, it was impractical to try and climate control all of them. The gardens in the commercial and residential areas were left to grow as they were, though their produce was still handled and harvested by the Bureau of Agriculture. The gardens in Agricultural Wards however- entire sections dedicated solely to farming- were carefully cared for with filtered water, air, and state of the art fertilizer. The 34th Ward was one of the only places in the lower 50 where she could safely take her mask off for longer than an hour.
“Seung-Wan! Are you done with those tomatoes yet?” her sister called from the sorting area.
“Almost! Just a few more,” she called back. It took some stretching and very careful footwork around the radishes but she managed to grab the last ripe tomatoes and climb out of the garden plot without crushing anything. She rolled each plump fruit in her hands, checking for any signs of fungus or bruising, before putting it in her basket. She liked the taste of tomatoes enough, they were a little watery and slimy for her tastes, but she adored the colors of Ward tomatoes. There was a “wild” tomato vine wrapped around the gnarled, worn sign to Old Nan’s restaurant down by her apartment on Level 20 but it’s fruit were knobby and burnt orange. Not like the the bright red or the striped kinds she found in the Wards. She never knew nature could make something so vibrant or detailed!
With all of the tomatoes accounted for Seung-Wan grabbed her brasket and jogged over to where her sister and the others were sorting out the produce for the markets.
“There you are. Took you long enough. You weren’t sketching the heirlooms again were you?” her sister teased her. Seung-Wan blushed.
“That was one time!”
“That I saw,” her sister said, nudging her shoulder. “Don’t think I don’t see you staring longingly at the fruits while you pick them.”
“And not like Myeong either! At least we don’t have to worry about you eating anything!” another girl teased from across the table.
“Hey!” Myeong yelled while everyone else laughed.
“Alright ladies let’s bring this down to the market!” their supervisor said. Seung-Wan grabbed a crate of fruit and joined the line of women marching to the market on Level 38.
The market was in full swing when they arrived, stalls set up with brightly patterned fabrics, glittering pieces of tech, and piping hot food.
“Banh mi! Nice and hot!”
“New fabrics! Hand dyed! Come see our new colors!”
“What do ya need? I got multi-conductor wires here. Sim cards? LEDS? You look like someone who could use some new LEDS. Just got some new colors!”
The girls melted through the crowd to their stall and started setting up their crates. As soon as they arrived Ji-Yeong started shouting out the passersby.
“FRESH PRODUCE! Come get your fresh produce here!”
A flood a people ran up, everyone shouting over each other to get the best picks before the others. Ji-Yeong and Myeong swiped everyone’s credit bands one by one while Seung-Wan and the others dashed around and under each other filling up bags of fruits, vegetables and herbs as quickly as possible.
An hour of frenzied shopping later, Seung-Wan was rearranging the remaining produce to make it a little more presentable after the flood of customers while the others sat down or wandered the other stalls. She was organizing some radishes when strings of curses and the unmistakable screech of a pocket-rocket horn to her left caught her attention. Seung-Wan turned to see pedestrians jumping out of the way as the multicolored scooter sped by and she yelped and barely jumped back in time when it screeched to a stop inches from the produce stall.
Hand clutched to her racing heart, Seung-Wan look dazed at the… peculiar person dismounting the pocket-rocket. They were covered head to toe in mismatched fabrics from leather to cotton, silk and what was possibly fur. Their gas mask covered their entire face and was adorned with neon paint and blinking LEDS. There wasn’t a scrap of skin that she could see.
“Ah, Miss-ter? Dark Mun? Ah hello.” Seung-Wan greeted, because who else could the extravagant courier be? Dark Mun was well known throughout the lower levels for being a reliable courier and mostly reliable scavenger. (Mostly, because they had odd taste in what they thought was worthwhile scrap).
Dark Mun nodded in greeting and rubbed their hands together, quickly moving about the stall and browsing the produce.
“Um, is there anything I can help you with?” Sueng-Wan asked.
Dark Mun titled their head at her before making a small circle with their hands.
‘Oh dear. That could be anything,’ she thought, trying to figure out what it was Dark Mun wanted. She decided to just grab every round thing she could find and hold it up. She was halfway through the stall, and both were starting to get frustrated when Ji-Yeong returned from her shopping trip.
“Ah! Dark Mun good to see you again.” She greeted.
“Help me.” Seung-Wan greeted back, waving a cantaloupe angrily at her.
Ji-Yeong just laughed and brushed by her to the crate of clementines.
“How many will that be today?”
Dark Mun raised all ten fingers excitedly.
“Ten it is.”
“How,” Seung-Wan asked incredulously.
“It’s about the only thing they buy.”
Dark Mun looked between the two, took the pointer and middle finger of each hand together and tapped them twice while looking at Ji-Yeong.
“Oh no this is my baby sister Seung-Wan.” She answered the apparent question.
“Two years!” Seung-Wan yelled, nudging her sister’s shoulder.
Dark Mun titled their head and seemed to stare and her for a while before pointing at Ji-Yeong and tapping their forearm. Seung-Wan looked on confused as they repeated the motion before Ji-Yeong came to the rescue.
“Yeah she’s that one that hangs around the tattoo shop all the time.”
Seung-Wan looked at her and finally realized that Dark Mun had been referring to the array of herons and peonies on her sister’s arm. Dark Mun nodded in understanding and then made a scribbling motion on their hand.
“Yeah she says she goes there to draw but she really just likes watching Nari work.”
“I do not!” Seung-Wan spluttered, slamming her hands on the table.
“Do too.”
“I appreciate the art!”
“You appreciate that ass,” her sister deadpanned.
Seung-Wan choked in rage and tried to strangle her sister but she just laughed and ran around the table to hand Dark Mun their fruit.
“Here ya go.”
Dark Mun took the fruit eagerly and then reached into one of their many bags. They gently handed over 3 flower buds.
“Are these the striped tulips from Level 72!?” Ji-Yeong exclaimed.
Dark Mun nodded eagerly and ignored Ji-Yeong’s high-pitched squealing to rummage once more. This time they pulled out half a dozen squares of faded but intricately patterned silk and handed them to Seung-Wan.
“I can’t accept this!” She said as she stared in wonder at the fabrics. Oh the patterns she could make with those!
Dark Mun shook their head and nudged the fabrics towards her.
“I really can’t, those bulbs are payment enough.”
They tapped their feet annoyed now and even though there was a mask, Seung-Wan could feel the very unimpressed glare leveled at her. She bit her lip before giving in and reaching for the fabrics. She rubbed them delicately before tucking them safely away in her dress pocket.
“Thank you!” she said and bowed.
Dark Mun put their hands on their hips and nodded, pleased. They picked up their bags, waved goodbye to the sisters and then revved up their pocket-rocket. The girls watched as the brightly colored mass sped down the street leaving a cloud of dark smoke and angry curses in its wake.
“Are they always like that?” Seung-Wan asked.
“Yup. Pretty cool right?”